Even in Death
by Yours True
Summary: AU/The tragedy of Lisa Tepes and the birth of a monster one shot


Title: Even in Death  
Rating: pg-13  
Cannon: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night  
Written by: GrayVelkan

- Even in Death -

'_Give me a reason to believe that you're gone  
__I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong'_

No one saw the young child hidden in the shadows of the bakers cart as they brought the young woman out of the mayor's home. All eyes were on the grief stricken girl, her pale features streaked with tears and dirt. Dove gray eyes blood shot with pain. Her lovely green silk skirts were ripped and stained, the embroidered bodice hung by threads on her slender shoulders. Yet she was still the most beautiful woman in the small village.

The child's eyes were large, startling on his pale angelic face, white blond hair hung in a tumble to his shoulders. Silent tears moved down his aristocratic features. He moved among the shadows, keeping the woman in sight as they brought her down to the make shift wooden platform near the wooded stake that they had quickly erected.

'_Moonlight on the soft brown earth  
__It leads me to where you lay'_

Someone, as the young girl was brought before the magistrate, threw a rotten tomato. The black stain that blossomed on the green silk looked like blood to the small child's gray eyes. He held back a cry for the woman who with stood the name calling and fruit throwing with grace and decorum. As the men nearer to the mayor called off the assault, the magistrate called out, his voice high pitch, not matching his plump body.

"We are here to see this witch burned for the heinous crimes of witchcraft." The men nearer to the woman turned her to face the crowd. "All of you who would stand with this woman, Lisa Tepes, stand forward and let your souls be heard."

The woman held her head high giving the small child a glimpse of the queen she was at Castle Dracula.

The magistrate gave a laugh as one lone woman in the crowd raised her voice. "I do… I give my voice to help this woman."

"And what would an old crone do but buy her own gave at the crossroads?" His voice was filled with hate, an almost tangible feeling as the words fell on the boy's ears.

As the woman moved to speak again, the boy could see a small girl reach up to take the older woman's hand. The crone looked down and let her shoulders drop and she said nothing after that.

'_They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home'_

The man turned to the condemned woman, an evil gleam in his black eyes. "As no one will speak for you, bride to the devil, I see no reason to hold back your punishment." With his words the crowd became a hungry beast, wanting to see this beautiful woman's blood. The woman nodded, the boy could see fresh tears falling down her dirty face, twin glistening banners of sorrow. Yet the woman held her head high, not flinching once as they led her up the small steps to the stake.

The boy moved again in the shadows, his small hands clutching the wooden cart, making his slender knuckles turn white. He hated the town's people, he hated the magistrate, and he hated his father for letting this happen to her. She was good, beautiful, a fresh wind blowing through Castle Dracula. She was his mother and he couldn't let her die.

The boy moved to stand but the woman found him with her eyes, pinning him in place. They were finished tying her hands to the pole, he could see one of the men had placed a small package of gunpowder around her swan neck. He couldn't let this happen; he began to shake his head, his hair tumbling around his face even more, causing the green silk ribbon holding his hair to fall down his back in a tranquil ballet. But the woman just smiled to her little boy, her Alucard. And he could do nothing as they placed pieces of wood around the base of the now makeshift bomb fire.

'_I will stay forever here with you  
__My love'_

He held his breath, the smoke had begun to rise in the twilight sky, snaking its way to the Castle. The towns' people were burning yet another witch today. Count Dracula stood on the terrace of his large home and watched the smoke drift along the breeze. Usually when he awoke, Lisa and Adrian would be here, sharing the view of the small village. Lisa playing with the small baby, no, he wasn't a baby anymore. He was a young man who would soon need to be taught the ways of the world. Smiling he stretched is back and looked to the smoke rising again.

Lisa and Adrian should be back from the village soon. Lisa had insisted on taking 'Her Alucard' to the village for a simple healing with herbs. She had hoped to teach the young boy something of her craft. He smiled again. She had been calling Adrian Alucard since the day of his birth. He had once asked her why, her response had been a kiss and a sly smile followed by "What kind of name is Dracula?"

How he loved that woman, she was his life, his breath, his world. He had once asked her if she would have immortality with him. She had replied with 'Not yet my love.', and he had allowed her the freedom of the light. Something he could never see but on cloudy twilight evenings.

As he drifted on a daydream he noticed the smoke was trailing its way to the Castle. The wind was pulling it away, to the west, but it was flowing to the east, towards him. Frowning he raised his eyes and watched the dancing smoke. In the distance he could hear the loud shot of gunpowder that had been placed around the woman's neck.

'_The softly spoken words you gave me  
__Even in death our love goes on'_

No one saw the small child, his eyes overflowing with tears, as they made their way back to their homes for the night. They knew who the witch had been, and knew once he found out there would be hell to pay. So they moved restlessly wanting the protection of their walls and garlic, and the holy word.

Adrian sat watching the people flee to their homes for refuge against the coming night. They were nothing but murders to the young child. Killers of his mother. His eyes filled with tears again as his pale dirty hands scrubbed at his eyes.

As the last villager left the town square the magistrate looked down at the burning embers of timber and flesh. The child watched as the plump man spat at the dying flames, and those flames roared in anger for second before dying down. Anger filled the pain in the small child's heart. Wiping his eyes again he crept from his hiding spot on hands and knees. The elongating shadows hiding his progress from the man. Whose ugly face was being highlighted by the fading light.

Adrian finally managed to crawl to the pile of debris. His small hands bleeding from the sharp stones that laid around the square. His pale eyes blood shot and red, dirt and blood streaked his angelic face.

'_Some say i'm crazy for my love, oh my love  
__But no bonds can hold me from your side, oh my love'_

The magistrate blanched at the sight of the small blood stained angel who wept for the Devil's concubine. His hands clenched with hate at the thought of God sending down a seraphim…

"No… Satan sent a beast to pretend…" his voice sounded strained and not his own as he took a step forward, his clenched hands forming the lords cross before him.

The small demon stared wide eyed at him, the pale dove gray eyes, still spilling tears, turning hard and cold. Its hands formed fists at its side as it stood from the ground and faced him. It's bone white hair tattered with blood and dirt, ash and leaves tumbled around its forged angelic visage.

"No… you are the Devil's on spawn… An angel with a filthy soul… born of corruption… out of lust… you are a walking sin…" The fear he had felt about the witch magnified as he watched the son turn those hard raged filled eyes from the pile of ash to him.

'_They don't know you can't leave me  
__They don't hear you singing to me'_

Dracula looked to the darkening sky above him; the smoke still lingered there, pulling him to the village. Lisa and Adrian had not returned at sunset. Something had gone horribly wrong in the small village that was shadowed by the large castle he called home. The fear of losing his son and wife coursed through his blood as he urged the large black stallion on. He felt pain ahead of him, fear behind him, and death in the air around him. He was too late to stop the pain and death… but he might not be too late to save his wife and son.

He raced the shadows at break neck speed, urging the horse faster and faster as the heavy forest broke to soft hills of wheat and corn. He was almost there… he only needed a few more minutes. The large brute beneath him snorted fire, and raced the fiends of Hell with every heavy beat of its hooves.

At last the village loomed ahead of him cold and lifeless in the cooling night air. The smoke was faintly visible ahead of him, seductively dancing from the center of the village.

He didn't wait for the beast to slow, he flung him self from the saddle haphazardly and bounded into the shadows.

'_I will stay forever here with you  
__My love'_

Pain. Endless pain of suffering souls. The screaming started and never ended as it ebbed and flowed around him.

Dracula took step by tortured step into the village; death assaulted him at every turn. It was every where. He frowned and kept going. The fear he had felt on his flight here began to magnify.

He had been too late to stop the pain and death of the villagers, their corpses were scattered towards the town square. Each held the face of horror, of shock, of pain. He stopped and knelt by a small child, no older then his own son. Her eyes were wide, a masque of death held in place by cooling muscles.

He reached out a gloved hand and closed the small child's green eyes. Who ever had done this had fed on blood; even the smallest child was killed. Fear for his wife and child gripped his heart and he stood. Lisa and Adrian were here… and he was going to find them.

His search became frantic as he moved from house to house. But then something caught his eye.

He saw the boy, his son sitting by a cooling pile of ashes. The small child was rocking back and forth among the massacre. His back was to him, yet he could hear the soft murmur of a lullaby on the child's lips.

'_The softly spoken words you gave me  
__Even in death our love goes on '_

Dracula held his son to his chest. The boy was slick with blood and carnage. His pale hair had turned an ugly dark shade with drying blood. His heart ached for his only son, his heir. But he was frightened of the now traumatized child. Adrian had killed a village in less then an hour. The child had spared no one, least of all the village magistrate who he had found crucified in the church.

He blinked the sight away. The child was still softly singing, the ancient lullaby had not changed since he had been found. The soft german murmur from his son was oddly comforting as he urged the horse away from the village of death.

As the horse trotted towards the castle, Dracula frowned. Adrian could never know what happened. Better the child think his father was the monster and not him. Better he be hated then the child hating him self. He would put the child to bed and when he awoke he would tell the small child a story… That he had killed the village in a fit of rage for what they did to his mother… yes… that would work…

He looked down at his son, his heir and kissed the boys forehead. This would be the last time the child would love him…

'_And i can't love you, anymore than i do'_

AN: bows Thank you for reading 'Even in Death', I hope you enjoyed it and also hope that you'll leave a review (everyone needs a good ego boost), also this is my first attempt at a song fic. I also wanted to put in the copyright for the song down here…

'Even in Death' Song by Evanescence


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